Pages

21 Mar 2014

ReGen Nitrogen, result of our conversations with farmers

Last week we introduced some of the key features of ReGen Nitrogen. This week we discuss some of the future developments we have planned for ReGen Nitrogen following some valuable feedback from some of our customers in Southland.

Two weeks ago we were in Southland gathering some feedback on how intuitive ReGen Nitrogen is to use and what additional features could be incorporated. We sat down with a small group of farmers who have been trialing ReGen Nitrogen since its release at the Waimumu field days (12-14 February) to find out what they thought of the application. We wanted to know what might be missing from the current version of ReGen Nitrogen and if there were any additional features that could be valuable.

At the moment, soil moisture levels are very low in many places around the country. Soil moisture will start to move towards more optimum conditions as the autumn rains arrive. The conversation we had in Southland was held while soil moisture levels around the region were still very low and centered around the question, if the nitrogen response rate is not good now, when will it be closer to the optimum range? Can ReGen Nitrogen forward forecast what the soil conditions and nitrogen response will be?

There were two types of scenarios that were specifically requested:

Given the weather forecast for the next 7 days, what will the soil conditions and corresponding N response likely to be in a week’s time?

How long will it be before the cost of dry matter is in a range that would make using nitrogen fertiliser worthwhile to apply?

Our conversations with farmers have confirmed for us that forward forecasting is a priority for us to implement. We understand that knowing what future soil conditions will be is essential for you to plan and optimise your use of nitrogen fertiliser. This is why we will be working on forward forecasting over the coming couple of months.
It’s been great to be able to hear from farmers what additional features in Regen Nitrogen would be valuable.

This initial feedback has given us a clearer idea of the scenarios we need to consider when we implement forward forecasting into ReGen Nitrogen. Adding new features to ReGen Nitrogen will be an iterative process over the coming months and we look forward to meeting and seeking feedback from more of you in the coming weeks so we can continue to make Regen Nitrogen even better.